Kane Sheriff's police investigating firefighter's death

Kane County Sheriff’s Office police are investigating the death of a 44-year-old firefighter who was found dead in her Big Rock home Monday.

At about 4:15 p.m., Dawn Brown – a firefighter paramedic with two departments in the far west suburbs – was found dead by her husband in their home in the 400 block of Jefferson Street in Big Rock after he returned from work, said Kane Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler.

Gengler said further details of the death were pending until the completion of a Tuesday afternoon autopsy. Kane County coroners deferred comment to police.

But Chief Michael Hitzemann with the Bristol Kendall Fire Department in Yorkville, where Brown was a firefighter paramedic, said Brown’s death was an accident.

“It was an accident in the home,” Hitzemann said. “We’re not really 100 percent sure what happened.”

Brown, along with her husband, also served as volunteer firefighters with the Big Rock Fire Protection District – the department to respond to the call.

Captain Debra Raymond would not release any details surrounding the incident, saying she was waiting for an official cause of death.

Both departments were grieving Tuesday.

“To pronounce one of your own dead is probably one of the hardest things we have to do,” Raymond said. “We live in a small town so we know everyone…but when it’s a member of your own team...we’re like extended family.”

Both Raymond and Hitzemann described Brown as a nurturing woman with a flair for cooking and baking.